Co-Sleepers ~ Need some logistical advice

[TanyaS]

We have been co-sleeping with dd since birth. Several months ago, she began a long nighttime restlessness where she would wake up from a dead sleep and just scream at the top of her lungs. Not sure what that was all about, but she drove dh to the couch so he could sleep before work the next day. She outgrew that and still wakes on occasion, but not in distress. Dh tried to come back to the family bed, but he was forced back to the couch because she didn't like losing her space. Don't worry too much about dh....the couch is a wonderfully comfortable sleep spot.

We have a queen size bed and it's just not enough room for two adults, a newborn, and a toddler who likes to sleep perpendicular to your back! We got a mattress for the floor that was practically new for free, but she won't sleep there either. We think it's because of the height. She doesn't feel like she's "in bed" with us even though she's right beside the bed. So we've decided to go buy a twin bed, box spring and metal frame and put up against our bed (our bed consists of the frame, box and mattress, too).

Is anyone else in a similar situation? I need a smilie with dh on the couch and the family bed with mama and two little ones, lol! The good news is ds is 5 and sleeps in his bed, although lately he's been known to pop up on the couch by morning.

[Mama2ABCD]

The couch is our spare bed too( alot of times it's me that sleeps on it). We have a full sized bed and our dd who is 27 mos sleeps with us. She had pretty much nightweaned in the last few months (about 1-2x's a week now she'll nurse at night), so she pretty much sleeps all night. We have a twin air mattress that slides under the bed that we've been moving her to at some point during the night. Usually she stays there, or she wakes can crawls back into bed. Or she falls asleep on the couch (she's a nightowl, and likes to stay up with her daddy and fall asleep in his arms. then if she wakes during the night she finds me no problem)
If she's having a restless night, i put her on the outside edge of the bed and me in the middle otherwise she's in the middle.
When she was an infant i kept her on the outside, and i moved the bed to a halfwall, shoving throw pillows down in the crack between the bed and wall. I plan to do that again as soon as this baby is born.
We've slept 4 in a full bed before after my 2nd child was born. But, after 6 mos of that, dh kept having to move to get sleep. Finally we had gotten a king and that was wonderful. The winter before my dd turned one, it could sleep all 5 of us comfortably, but we also had the full as a spare bed as anyone who needed to be alone could do so. But, my boys had wanted bunk beds (bugged me for a year about it) and so for my oldest's 5th bday, they moved to bunk beds while we got rid of the king. The full has sentimental value (MIL was born in that bed and so was my dd) so i couldn't part with that. I do love the extra space, but miss the extra bed space.
Only my oldest child is my restless sleeper. He goes through phases were he wakes and wants to sleep near me. He'll pull the air mattress out and sleep on it, but i've found him sleeping at the bottom of the bed at my feet. We've had all 5 of us in that full, but that's too crowded. Every once in awhile i'll go to bed when the boys do so they willl sleep in my bed, dd too. Dh will then sleep in the bottom bunk.
Hoping dh will get to work on the addition this fall, so that we can get another room to put in a king bed.
Whew, sorry so winded, but with the 4 kids i think we've tackled alot of different scenerios.

[writermommy]

We have three, dh and me in a king sized bed. The baby will go in a co sleeper at first so they don't kick him or roll on him. Sometimes my three girls will all sleep together in dd #2s room. We have two twins pushed together in there and they do ok, but then they end up back with us again for a variety of reasons, (monsters, rain, etc.) I'd try pushing her bed next to yours and see if it works. Will she sleep with your other dc? That works for our youngest sometimes. We actually get the very random, occassional night in our bed alone.

[MrsSurplus]

Do you have room for a king bed, and would that provide enough room for your hubby and the new baby?

Our kids are all older and while they each co-slept as infants and young toddlers, that has long passed. We purchased a co-sleeper for this baby because, not being a youngster anymore, I have grown to covet my sleep (and I don't sleep as soundly with a baby actually in the bed...) - and because DH and I are both going so hard all day long, bedtime (before and after sleep) are when we spend most of our bonding time together. I don't mind sharing that with baby (or any of the kids), but I am not willing to set things up in a way that I have to sacrifice it in general!

[TanyaS]

I do have room for a king size bed, and then some. It's on our wish list, but unfortunately there's no room in our budget for one right now. So we think we can afford a modest twin, and would use it anyway at some point for dd in her own room, so it wouldn't be a frivolous purchase. We just thought the mattress on the floor would buy us some time, and now we're at the end of this pregnancy needing another option! I have the crib in my room, but only for a safe place for the baby to nap when she's older (and I mean safe from my other dc's...lol!). Right now it's just a huge changing table

I know we'll figure something out. Adding the twin at the same height will just make our bed bigger, and if we have to, dd and dh can sleep on the queen with the baby and I on the twin for a while. Thanks for all the insight. I know there's lots of ways to approach this, and I may try having dd sleep with ds if it's not working out for whatever reason. I know ds would love the company!

[CalebsMama05]

awww I wish i had some advice ds#1 hated sleeping with me and generally just made both of us miserable until I gave him his own bed. Jacob and I sleep together and we actually sleep BETTER together. I hope you can figure something out that works for you and your dh and your dd.